Politics

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**FILE** U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu (second from right) listens as Jason Forcier (right), vice president and general manager of A123 Systems, shows off a battery at their plant in Romulus, Mich., on July 18, 2011. Standing at left is A123 President and CEO David Vieau and Rep. John Dingell, Michigan Democrat. (Associated Press)

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Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta (right) talks to reporters on board his plane while headed to Kuwait on Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. Mr. Panetta will meet with U.S. troops as part of a visit to thank them for their service. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

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President Obama, accompanied by members of his Cabinet, speaks about superstorm Sandy at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. With him are (from second from the left) Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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** FILE ** New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, to talk about aid to help his state recover from superstorm Sandy. President Obama is expected to ask Congress for about $50 billion in additional emergency assistance. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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GOP state Sen. Charles W. Carrico Sr. has introduced a bill to award one electoral vote to the winner of each of the state’s 11 congressional districts, and the state’s two at-large votes to the presidential candidate who wins the majority of the districts. His reasoning, he says, is that “I don’t feel the Electoral College right now is a fair system.” (Associated Press)

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A boy holds the Egyptian national flag as oldiers stand guard in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. Egypt’s liberal opposition called for more protests Sunday, seeking to keep up the momentum of its street campaign after the president made a partial concession overnight but refused its main demand that he rescind a draft constitution going to a referendum Saturday. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Soldiers on a tank stand guard in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on Sunday, while at left, a boy holds up the Egyptian national flag. Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi and leaders of the liberal opposition called for major rallies to take place Tuesday in the runup to Saturday’s referendum on a draft constitution. (Associated Press)

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RNC Chairman Reince Priebus asked a group of five respected Republican Party leaders to examine how the party can better talk with voters, raise money from donors and learn from Democrats’ tactics. (Associated Press)

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A Free Syrian Army fighter takes position close to a military base north of Aleppo on Monday. The gains by rebel forces came as the European Union denounced the Syrian conflict, which activists say has killed more than 40,000 people. (Associated Press)

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President Obama speaks Dec. 10, 2012, about the economy to an audience comprised of workers and guests during a visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Mich. (Associated Press)

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Nafissatou Diallo, who claimes she was sexually assaulted by former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, arrives at a courthouse in the Bronx borough of New York on Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

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In this Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 photo, members of Afghanistan's elite Civil Order Police patrol the main street in Marjah, southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, at sunset. As the U.S. and NATO close out their mission in Afghanistan preparing for the final withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2014, the worry looms large that fresh outbursts of ethnically motivated fighting would send the country into a spiral of chaos and violence. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)